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RPM TV Website | March 22, 2024

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Land Rover Defender due in 2016

Landy DC100 Concept
Adam Schoeman

According to sources close to Land Rover, the legendary Defender will indeed be making a comeback in 2016, and will have the largest “breadth of capability” of any Land Rover yet.

This clearly means that JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) is taking the new Defender extremely seriously, to the point where it sounds as if the vehicle could end up being the firm’s new halo car.

The current Defender has been around forever, spruced up by minor changes to the basic shape every few years. This would be the first big revival of the car since the establishment of the Land Rover brand some 65 years ago.

The Defender will be an all-new, from the ground up design, featuring a new silhouette, platform and engine line-up. Land Rover has so far managed to keep the details of the Defender under wraps but we understand that it has been signed off, and could be ready for an unveiling at next year’s Geneva Motor Show.

There have already been some indications of the newcomer’s appearance, notably the DC100 concept vehicle (picture above). But as far as the engineering goes, not much has been confirmed.

We can assume that an aluminium monocoque will be used, supplemented with an aluminium chassis to boost rigidity and stiffen up the platform to its required level of ruggedness.

This principle was used very successfully in the Discovery, but with steel instead of aluminium, and made for a very tough but heavy superstructure. By using aluminium, Land Rover would greatly reduce overall weight, and might end up with a structure that is even more rigid.

One of the guiding principles around the Defender has been Premium Durability, which leads us to think that Land Rover is still committed to making the vehicle a go-anywhere kind of vehicle, but with updated comfort levels.

This design principle has resulted in a vehicle that should be at home in the harshest of climates and has been designed to be compatible with a wide range of components in case the worst happens.

The cabin will probably see the largest improvement in terms of comfort, although it will probably still be quite spartan compared to the Discovery, but will make it easier to live with for those looking to use it as everyday transport.

We expect a mix of turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines to be available, as well as a V6. These will all be linked to either eight or nine-speed auto gearboxes, but the retention of a manual ‘box remains uncertain.

As mentioned, the new Defender is only set to be released in 2016, but we should start to see some closer-to-production prototypes hitting the motor show circuits during the course of next year.

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